..Sector Three...

...4:39 PM..

"Captain!" Jose shouted. "I don't see anyone."

I looked around along with my squad.

There is only dust, burned remains of animals, and corpses to various races that had died. I found myself disgusted by this sight. I felt uneasy. I felt sick. I pried a piece of metal off what seemed to be a hole. No signs of live lingered there. I only saw a couple unresponsive bodies that had no readings.

I lowered my head and muttered, "Rest in peace..."

"This is a trap," Cody, a guy with a metal emblem on his forehead that has a U on it, said. "I know it."

I stood up.

"Let's return to the base," I said.

"Do you hear that, Cap?" Jose said.

"Hear my failures behind me," I said. "Yes."

"I hear gun fire," Cody said.

I stopped in my tracks.

"I hear it two," A couple of my other men said.

I had a feeling. It was a strange feeling. A feeling that I couldn't touch. It was...John-Luc. I turned around towards the group in the direction of the gun fire. I had to trust my gut for once, not that I always trusted it. I started to head in the direction then activated my jet boosters with a simple command. My squad followed after. The feeling grew strong, and stronger! I ordered the activation of my side arms. I heard the collective click to my squads side arms.

"Readings indicate Cauistofkocheo," The computer said,

"Tech puppies," I said. "Men, ignore the computer and the general's command. We are coming back together in one piece or in pieces,do you understand?"

"Yes sir!" Came the men and women.

Yes, even though I am paranoid about women I feel confident they wouldn't die on the battlefield after killing me. I know how women feel after they were taken advantaged of by men. It hurts. Some of your pride is taken away. You wonder if anyone is out to get you. You feel so alone and scared to go out. But I pressed on despite what Alian did. I am stronger than that, after all! I can show that nothing will stop me. Nothing can stop me in my tracks. Nothing is going to stop me from living and being independent. I may be broken by the inside but the outside is different.

I have to put on a show it is fine.

Because in order to press forward; we have to take our bearings together through what hell remains on the road ahead. I met a group of Romulans who were stranded on the planet Colo because of a attack made by the Kolosters. They were in bad shape, trembling, and very emotional while trying to say they were not. They were too arrogant so we had them put into lock up. They were the first omen that this might not last a day. The second omen was a explosions in several of the sectors. The third was being forced underground.

We landed to the ground and our jet boosters deactivated.

"Group 26; attack!" I ordered.

I slammed my side arm into the mouth of a tech puppy and let it rip. The tech puppy is blown in half. The tech puppies (as usual) started to climb up my legs. I shake them off by turning on the side flares burning them off so graciously it could be defined as art. There are certain types of art one can make with fire for example. I ordered Jose and Cody to search for life forms while the other members took great work on the beasts. I had to find the pack leader.

I tore my way to the pack leader, seriously I did tearing apart tech puppies, with my servos covered in grime and yucky stuff. The pack leader is what makes them multiply so fast in smaller groups. They split in half and reproduce every fifteen minutes. The smaller one reproduce every five minutes but not if the process is interrupted. Casey helped me making a straight path.

I never expected to see what I saw.

I saw John-Luc cornered by the pack leader against a wall holding a shooting staff that has a rounded hole at the top similar to a wizard's spear.

"Commander Casey," I said. "This one is mine!"

"Yes sir," Casey said.

You might ask, why do I have a woman as my first officer?

It was Casey's argument with me that I start trusting her during my first month here.

Why I was made Captain of a entire squad? Because I happen to have infinite knowledge about these beings and how to take care of them in terms of terminating them. The word 'Terminating' is a phrase I picked up from a rather unusual planet claiming to be Earth when in fact it is not. I call it the planet-with-cyborgs-who-time-travel. Or just Cyborg Time planet for short.

I slammed into the pack leader shoving my side arms into the beings chest. I delivered several punches to the tech puppies face. I slammed my hand into the tech puppies chest then activate 'hand termination'. My right hand detached from my arm digging around the tech puppies heart right into the ground. I picked up John-Luc into my free left hand. I saw Casey running alongside holding two people; one was dead and the other was alive. I ordered the crew to depart.

"Quarty?" Picard asked.

Oh right, the type of metal I am in does not allow for people to hear what I am saying from inside the machine,

"Desk screen off," I said. The inside became pitch black. "Face protector, open!"

The walls opened to show Picard,this time, with color.

He had holes in his red uniform and he scar scratches from fighting off some tech-puppies.

"Quarty, where the hell have you been?" Picard asked.

"Funny story," I said. "How about I tell you once we get back to the bas--"

I fell to the ground obviously stuck. I pulled my foot forward then activated side mirror to see a tech puppy with its curled talons around my leg. I can't exactly flee on foot since I am paralyzed. I kicked my foot activating the flares watching the head of the tech puppy melt down, down, and down ever so cruelly yet the grip was very strong. It was tugging me forward right into a group of tech puppies. Casey was already ahead and Jose was close by.

"John Luc, hold on," I said.

"Why?" Picard asked

"Just do it, please," I said.

I closed my hand.

"Quarty!" Picard shouted through my grip.

"000-000-001," I said. "Armor detonate."

Long as Picard is in my hand, he is is safe from the blast.

Pain, blistering heat, and then it evaporated. Metal scattered all over the place. The tech puppies located in this sector had all but vanished. The last was shot down by no other than Cody. The whole sky seemed to be glowing white. All you could see was metal and mud all over the place. Picard was screaming. The crew members had their face protectors retract and some of them pried the fingers loose.

"Quarty!" Picard shouted. "I didn't just come here to see you die!"

They all looked up at him with sad looks.

"I am so sorry," Casey said.

"The sky is so white," Cody said. "It suits Quarty. The stories he's told me about how Q celebrate their fallen turn out to be true."

Picard appeared to be horrified.

"No," Picard said. "He is not a Q! Quarty is a human--" He closed his eyes digging his hands into the dirt. "This is nonsense. He couldn't have died. I saw.." He opened his eyes loosening his grip on the ground. "Humans can be brought back."

"We have to go before the tech puppies come back," Casey said.

"It's what the captain would have done," Jose said, in a low voice.

It hurt me to see Picard hurt.

"John-Luc.." I said.

Picard could not see me.

The armor was fashioned to self destruct by the inside but if the hands were holding something inside then that part would not explode. In fact the human hand would remain in tact. My left hand remained. Yes, I have a left hand that shouldn't be a surprise. I don't understand why people are so surprised by that. Are they expecting me to have lost both arms due to an accident? Are they expecting me to become bionic man?

"Damn it, father," Came Trelane's voice. "You just had to die,didn't you!"

Anger came to in my nerves.

When my vision became clear all I could see Trelane's face, so I punched at his nose. The man fell to the ground covering his nose glaring right at me. My left hand was closed in a tight fist. Keyword: hand. I didn't see myself as the all-powerful Q. I saw myself as a human. Fully mortal.

"So what about it?" I asked.

"The idea of your exile is not dying, father," Trelane said.

"My exile has been on for 5,000 years,Trelane!" I shouted. "What more does the continuum want from me?"

Trelane's bloody nose vanished.

"They've been watching your fiasco," Trelane said. "And you have been entertaining for the continuum. But...There were some moments they had to look away. Like the first night you had with the Alien--"

"Alian!" I raised my voice correcting him.

"The Alian character," Trelane said. "The whole idea of this exile is for you to spend a entire lifetime in the past being a human! Not DIE two years into it!"

I frowned.

"So what are you saying?" I asked.

"Naturally I am going to be the one who plants the idea," Trelane said, smugly. "I can't help you. It will be cheating to bring you back on the spot from the grave."

I stared at Trelane.

"What idea?" I asked.

"I'll see you in three minutes," Trelane said.

"WHAT IDEA!" I shouted.

Trelane vanished before my eyes.